Abstract:

The counterfeit money discrimination support device is configured to eject
only the banknotes of the same denomination as a predetermined
denomination of money, as specific banknotes, among banknotes taken into
the device from the exterior. The denomination and quantity of the
specific banknotes ejected to the exterior are stored in a memory 23.
Thereafter, the specific banknotes discriminated as being not counterfeit
banknotes, by hand, are then taken again into the device. When the
denomination and quantity of the specific banknotes taken again into the
device respectively correspond to the denomination and quantity stored in
the memory 23, the discriminating operation for the counterfeit banknotes
is judged to have been properly completed.

Claims:

1. A counterfeit money discrimination support device for supporting a
discriminating operation, by hand, for checking whether money is
counterfeit money or not, the counterfeit money discrimination support
device comprising:a denomination setting unit for setting, in advance, a
denomination of money to be discriminated, as a predetermined
denomination of money;a money taking-in unit for taking money into the
device from the exterior;a denomination judging unit for judging whether
or not the denomination of the money taken into the device by the money
taking-in unit is identical to the predetermined denomination of money
set in advance by the denomination setting unit;a money ejecting unit for
ejecting the money judged to be of the denomination identical to the
predetermined denomination of money by the denomination judging unit, to
the exterior, as specific money; anda memory for storing, threrein, the
denomination and quantity of the specific money ejected by the money
ejecting unit,herein the specific money discriminated as being not
counterfeit money, by hand, among the specific money ejected to the
exterior by the money ejecting unit is taken again into the device by the
money taking-in unit, and wherein when the denomination and quantity of
the specific money taken again into the device correspond respectively to
the denomination and quantity of money stored in the memory, the
discriminating operation for the counterfeit money is judged to have been
properly completed.

2. The counterfeit money discrimination support device according to claim
1, further comprising an end of discriminating operation annunciating
unit for informing the operator that the discriminating operation for the
counterfeit money was properly completed, when the discriminating
operation for the counterfeit money is judged to have been properly
completed.

3. The counterfeit money discrimination support device according to claim
1,wherein the counterfeit money discrimination support device is
connected with an external point-of-sale system, andwherein the
counterfeit money discrimination support device further comprises a
transmitting unit for transmitting information that the discriminating
operation for the counterfeit money was properly completed, to the
point-of-sale system, when the discriminating operation for the
counterfeit operation is judged to have been properly completed.

4. The counterfeit money discrimination support device according to claim
3, wherein the transmitting unit also transmits information related to
the denomination and quantity of money taken first into the device from
the exterior by the money taking-in unit, to the point-of-sale system,
when the discriminating operation for the counterfeit money is judged to
have been properly completed.

5. The counterfeit money discrimination support device according to claim
1, further comprising an alerting unit for notifying the operator that
there is a need for performing the discriminating operation, by hand,
when the denomination judging unit judges that the money to be taken into
the device by the money taking-in unit includes money of the denomination
identical to the predetermined denomination of money.

6. The counterfeit money discrimination support device according to claim
5, further comprising an alarming unit for alarming the operator when
some trouble occurs in the counterfeit money discrimination support
device,wherein the alerting unit and the alarming unit are respectively
configured to transmit individual information to the operator by ways
different from each other.

Description:

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

[0001]The present invention relates to a counterfeit money discrimination
support device for supporting a discriminating operation for
discriminating, by hand, whether money is counterfeit money or not.

BACKGROUND ART

[0002]In the past, as a money automatic deposit device adapted to classify
and take out money of a specific denomination among those, which are
collectively deposited into the device and include various denominations
of money, a device as disclosed in, for example, JP59-177691A, has been
known. As used herein, the money refers to banknotes and coins. In such a
money automatic deposit device, there is a possibility that counterfeit
money may be included in the money to be collectively deposited therein.
Thus, there is a need for discriminating, separately, whether or not the
counterfeit money is included in the money to be deposited. In
particular, for the dollar banknotes and euro banknotes, for example, the
possibility that they may include the counterfeit money is higher than
the other banknotes. Therefore, the necessity, for discriminating whether
the counterfeit money is included or not, has been higher in the United
States and European countries, for example.

[0003]One method, for discriminating whether the counterfeit money is
included or not, is to perform a discriminating operation for checking
whether the counterfeit money is included or not, by hand, such as by
visual check and/or hand feeling of an operator, for all of the money
including various denominations of money. Another known method employs an
automatic discriminating device adapted to automatically discriminate
whether money is the counterfeit money or not (see JP2002-279477A and
JP10-247262A, etc.).

[0004]However, in the method in which an operator performs the
discriminating operation for checking whether the counterfeit money is
included or not, by hand, for all of the money, a significantly great
burden should be imposed on the operator if the quantity of the money
collectively deposited is very large. In addition, such discriminating
operation should take a very long time.

[0005]On the other hand, in the method of employing the automatic
discriminating device adapted to automatically discriminate whether money
is the counterfeit money or not, such a device is generally quite
expensive because it should be comprised of a significantly
high-precision machine, thus disadvantageously increasing the total cost
of the money automatic deposit device itself. Furthermore, the automatic
discriminating device is configured to automatically take an image of
money to be checked and then compare the so-taken image of the money with
money as a standard, so as to provide a rapid and reliable discrimination
for checking the counterfeit money. However, it should be appreciated
that, in the case where the operator performs the discrimination for
checking the counterfeit money by directly touching money, there should
be an advantage that the operator can recognize, more securely, by a
tactile sense, such as by hand feeling, that there is counterfeit money
included in the money to be checked. Namely, for discriminating the
counterfeit money from all of the money based on the quality of paper
used for the money, it is generally known that there are often the cases
in which judgment due to the tactile sense of a human is more accurate
and/or superior as compared with judgment due to a machine.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0006]The present invention was made in view of the above, and therefore
it is an object of this invention to provide a counterfeit money
discrimination support device which can save the labor of an operator and
reduce the time required for a series of steps for a discriminating
operation, as compared with the case in which the operator performs the
discriminating operation for checking whether money is the counterfeit
money or not, by hand, for all of the money, and can reduce the cost for
the entire device, as compared with the case of employing the automatic
discriminating device adapted to automatically discriminate whether the
money is the counterfeit money or not, and enables the operator to
recognize, by a tactile sense, such as by hand feeling, that there is
counterfeit money included in the money to be checked.

[0007]The counterfeit money discrimination support device according to the
present invention is a counterfeit money discrimination support device
for supporting a discriminating operation, by hand, for checking whether
money is counterfeit money or not, the counterfeit money discrimination
support device comprising: a denomination setting unit for setting, in
advance, a denomination of money to be discriminated, as a predetermined
denomination of money; a money taking-in unit for taking money into the
device from the exterior; a denomination judging unit for judging whether
or not the denomination of the money taken into the device by the money
taking-in unit is identical to the predetermined denomination of money
set in advance by the denomination setting unit; a money ejecting unit
for ejecting the money judged to be of the denomination identical to the
predetermined denomination of money by the denomination judging unit, to
the exterior, as specific money; and a memory for storing, threrein, the
denomination and quantity of the specific money ejected by the money
ejecting unit, wherein the specific money discriminated as being not
counterfeit money, by hand, among the specific money to be ejected to the
exterior by the money ejecting unit is taken again into the device by the
money taking-in unit, and wherein when the denomination and quantity of
the specific money taken again into the device correspond respectively to
the denomination and quantity of money stored in the memory, the
discriminating operation for the counterfeit money is judged to have been
properly completed. As used herein, the money refers to banknotes and/or
coins.

[0008]With this counterfeit money discrimination support device, since the
banknotes of a specific denomination, such as large banknotes, can be
automatically selected and a discriminating operation can be performed
for only the so-selected banknotes, the labor of the operator can be
saved and the time required for a series of steps for the discriminating
operation can be reduced, significantly, as compared with the case in
which the operator must perform the discriminating operation, by hand,
for all of the banknotes, for checking whether or not the banknotes are
counterfeit ones. Additionally, the counterfeit money discrimination
support device can reduce the cost to be required for the entire device,
as compared with the case of employing an automatic discriminating
device, which is adapted to automatically discriminate whether or not the
banknotes are counterfeit ones. Furthermore, with the counterfeit money
discrimination support device of this invention, the operator can
recognize, due to a tactile sense, such-as by hand feeling, that there is
counterfeit money included in the money to be checked, by directly
touching the banknotes.

[0009]Preferably, the counterfeit money discrimination support device of
this invention further comprises an end of discriminating operation
annunciating unit for informing the operator that the discriminating
operation for the counterfeit money was properly completed, when the
discriminating operation for the counterfeit money is judged to have been
properly completed.

[0010]With this counterfeit money discrimination support device, the
operator can securely recognize that the discrimination operation for the
counterfeit money has been properly completed.

[0011]Preferably, the counterfeit money discrimination support device of
this invention is connected with an external point-of-sale system, and
further comprises a transmitting unit for transmitting information that
the discriminating operation for the counterfeit money was properly
completed, to the point-of-sale system, when the discriminating operation
for the counterfeit operation is judged to have been properly completed.

[0012]With this counterfeit money discrimination support device, the
information that the discriminating operation for the counterfeit money
has been properly ended can be securely transmitted to the external
point-of-sale system, thereby to perform a desired information management
in the point-of-sale system.

[0013]In the counterfeit money discrimination support device of this
invention, it is preferred that the transmitting unit also transmits
information related to the denomination and quantity of money taken first
into the device from the exterior by the money taking-in unit, to the
point-of-sale system, when the discriminating operation for the
counterfeit money is judged to have been properly completed.

[0014]With this counterfeit money discrimination support device, secure
control due to the point-of-sale system for the information related to
the denominations and quantities over all of the money to be taken into
the counterfeit money discrimination support device can be ensured.

[0015]Preferably, the counterfeit money discrimination support device of
this invention further comprises an alerting unit for notifying the
operator that there is a need for performing the discriminating
operation, by hand, when the denomination judging unit judges that the
money to be taken into the device by the money taking-in unit include
money of the denomination identical to the predetermined denomination of
money.

[0016]With this counterfeit money discrimination support device, the
operator can securely perform the discriminating operation due to the
alerting unit, which is adapted to notify the operator when there is a
need for performing the discriminating operation, by hand, after the
money has been taken into the device by the money taking-in unit.

[0017]Preferably, the counterfeit money discrimination support device of
this invention further comprises an alarming unit for alarming the
operator when some trouble occurs in the counterfeit money discrimination
support device, wherein the alerting unit and the alarming unit are
respectively configured to transmit individual information to the
operator by ways different from each other.

[0018]With this counterfeit money discrimination support device, the
operator can securely recognize that some failure has occurred in the
counterfeit money discrimination support device itself. Besides, the
operator can securely distinguish the information to be provided for
annunciating that there is a need for discriminating, by hand, for
checking whether the banknote is a counterfeit one or not, from the
information to be provided for notifying that some failure has occurred
in the counterfeit money discrimination support device itself.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0019]FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an external appearance of a
counterfeit money discrimination support device according to one
embodiment of this invention.

[0020]FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a construction including a control
unit and respective buzzers of the counterfeit money discrimination
support device shown in FIG. 1.

[0021]FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing respective steps upon performing a
discriminating operation, by hand, for counterfeit money, by using the
counterfeit money discrimination support device shown in FIG. 1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0022]Hereinafter, one embodiment of the present invention will be
described with reference to the drawings. FIGS. 1 to 3 are illustrations
for respectively explaining the counterfeit money discrimination support
device according to the embodiment.

[0023]Among the drawings, FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an external
appearance of the counterfeit money discrimination support device
according to the embodiment of this invention, FIG. 2 is a block diagram
showing a construction including a control unit and respective buzzers of
the counterfeit money discrimination support device shown in FIG. 1, and
FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing respective steps upon performing a
discriminating operation, by hand, for counterfeit money, by using the
counterfeit money discrimination support device shown in FIG. 1.

[0024]The counterfeit money discrimination support device 10 according to
this embodiment is for use in supporting a discriminating operation in
which an operator discriminates whether money is counterfeit money or
not, by hand, such as by visual check and/or hand feeling. As used
herein, the money refers to banknotes and coins. Specifically, the
counterfeit money discrimination support device 10 is configured to
support a series of steps for the discriminating operation, wherein only
the money of a denomination to be discriminated, such as large banknotes,
among those taken into the counterfeit money discrimination support
device 10, is ejected to the exterior, and then the operator performs a
discriminating operation for checking, by hand, whether the ejected money
includes counterfeit money or not, and returns the checked money again
into the counterfeit money discrimination support device 10. The
counterfeit money discrimination support device 10 constructed as
described above is connected with an external point-of-sale system 30
(hereinafter, also referred to as a POS system).

[0025]As shown in FIG. 1, the counterfeit money discrimination support
device 10 includes a banknote handling part 11 for handling banknotes and
a coin handling part 15 for handling coins, while these two parts 11, 15
are laterally connected with each other. The banknote handling part 11
includes a banknote taking-in port 12 for taking banknotes into the
device, a banknote storing box 13 for classifying the banknotes to be
taken into the device through the banknote taking-in port 12, into each
denomination, and then storing them therein, and a banknote ejecting port
14 for ejecting the banknotes present in the device to the exterior. The
coin handling part 15 includes a coin taking-in port 16 for taking coins
into the device, a coin storing box 17 for classifying the coins to be
taken into the device through the coin taking-in port 16, into each
denomination, and then storing them therein, and a coin ejecting port 18
for ejecting the coins present in the device to the exterior. In
addition, as shown in FIG. 2, the counterfeit money discrimination
support device 10 comprises a control unit 20 and respective buzzers 25,
26, 27, therein.

[0026]Hereinafter, a case in which the banknotes to be deposited into the
counterfeit money discrimination support device 10 are dollar banknotes
will be described.

[0027]The control unit 20, as shown in FIG. 2, includes a denomination
setting section 21 for setting a denomination of banknotes to be
discriminated, in advance, as a predetermined denomination of money, a
denomination judging section 22 for judging whether or not the
denomination of banknotes to be taken into the device is identical to the
aforementioned predetermined denomination of money, and a memory 23 for
storing or memorizing the denomination and quantity of banknotes to be
ejected to the exterior. The denomination setting section 21,
denomination judging section 22 and memory 23 are respectively connected
with an interface 29, and the interface 29 is in turn connected with the
banknote taking-in port 12, banknote storing box 13 and banknote ejecting
port 14, of the banknote handling part 11, respectively. In addition, a
transmitter 24 for receiving and transmitting information is connected
with the interface 29, and the transmitter 24 is connected with an
external POS system 30. Furthermore, an alerting buzzer 25, a buzzer 26
for failure, and an end of discriminating operation annunciating buzzer
27, which will be detailed below, are connected with the interface 29,
respectively.

[0028]Now, each component of the counterfeit money discrimination support
device 10 shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 will be described in more detail.

[0029]The denomination setting section 21 is one for setting, in advance,
a denomination of a banknote to be discriminated whether it is
counterfeit money or not, as a predetermined denomination of money.
Specifically, by directly inputting the denomination of the banknote to
be discriminated, via an operator, into the counterfeit money
discrimination support device 10, or by sending the information stored in
the POS system 30 to the money setting section 21, via the transmitter
24, the money setting section 21 can set, in advance, the predetermined
denomination of money to be discriminated, based on the information
inputted thereto.

[0030]The denomination judging section 22 is one for judging whether or
not the denomination of banknotes taken into the device through the
banknote taking-in port 12 is identical to the predetermined denomination
of money, which was set in advance. In the vicinity of the banknote
taking-in port 12, a detection sensor (not shown) for detecting the
denomination of banknotes taken into the device from the exterior is
provided. Thus, information related to the denomination of banknotes to
be detected by the detection sensor can be sent to the denomination
judging section 22. Thereafter, the denomination judging section 22
compares the predetermined denomination of money, which was set in
advance by the denomination setting section 21, with the denomination of
banknotes sent from the detection sensor. If both of the denominations of
money are identical to each other, a control for ejecting the banknotes
taken into the device to the exterior through the banknote ejecting port
14 will be performed by the control unit 20. The banknotes ejected in
this manner will be referred to as "specific banknotes" below. If both of
the denominations are different from each other, a control for
classifying the banknotes taken into the device, into each denomination
of money, and then storing them into the banknote storing box 13 will be
performed by the control unit 20.

[0031]The memory 23 is one for storing or memorizing the denomination and
quantity of the specific banknotes to be ejected to the exterior through
the banknote ejecting port 14. Specifically, in the vicinity of the
banknote ejecting port 14, a detection sensor (not shown) for detecting
the denomination of the specific banknotes to be ejected to the exterior
is provided. As such, information related to the denomination of the
specific banknotes detected by the detection sensor and the number of the
specific banknotes of the detected denomination, which have passed
through the banknote ejecting port 14, is sent to the memory 23.

[0032]The transmitter 24, as shown in FIG. 2, is connected with the POS
system 30, and configured to receive information stored in the POS system
30 and transmit information concerning the counterfeit money
discrimination support device 10 to the POS system 30.

[0033]The alerting buzzer 25 is one for generating an alerting sound when
the denomination judging section 22 judges that the banknotes taken into
the device 10 via the banknote taking-in port 12 include some banknotes
of the denomination identical to the predetermined denomination of money.
If the operator listens the alerting sound generated from the alerting
buzzer 25, the operator can recognize that there is a need for performing
a discriminating operation, by hand, for checking whether the specific
banknotes ejected from the banknote ejecting port 14 include counterfeit
ones or not. On the other hand, if the alerting sound is not generated
from the alerting buzzer 25, the operator can recognize that the
banknotes to be discriminated whether they are counterfeit ones or not
were not included in the banknotes taken into the device 10 through the
banknote taking-in port 12.

[0034]The buzzer 26 for failure is one for generating an alarming sound
when some failure, such as a paper jam, occurs at the banknote taking-in
port 12, banknote storing box 13 and/or banknote ejecting port 14.
Preferably, the alerting sound to be generated from the alerting buzzer
25 and the alarming sound to be generated from the buzzer 26 for failure
are different from each other, such that the operator can distinguish one
from the other. Therefore, when some sound is generated from the
counterfeit money discrimination support device 10, the operator can
securely distinguish the sound for annunciating that there is a need for
performing the discriminating operation, by hand, for checking whether
the banknotes are counterfeit ones or not, from the sound for notifying
that some failure has occurred in the counterfeit money discrimination
support device 10.

[0035]The end of discriminating operation annunciating buzzer 27 is one
for informing the operator that the discriminating operation for the
counterfeit banknote was ended, by generating an annunciating sound, when
the discriminating operation for the counterfeit banknote is judged to
have been properly ended.

[0036]Next, the operation of the embodiment constructed as described above
will be discussed with reference to FIG. 3.

[0037]First, as shown in STEP 1 of FIG. 3, an operator inputs a
denomination of banknotes to be discriminated, in advance, for checking
whether or not they include counterfeit banknotes, into the denomination
setting section 21, as a predetermined denomination of money. The
predetermined denomination of money may be a single denomination or two
or more denominations. As the denomination of banknotes to be
discriminated, in advance, for checking whether or not they include
counterfeit ones, for example, large banknotes or denominations of
banknotes, which have been frequently counterfeited, are often inputted
as the predetermined denomination of money. The information set in the
denomination setting section 21 is then sent to the denomination judging
section 22. One typical example, in which the denomination of 100-dollar
banknotes, which have been frequently counterfeited among the dollar
banknotes, is inputted to the denomination setting section 21, as the
predetermined denomination of money, by the operator, will be discussed
below.

[0038]Thereafter, as shown in STEP 2, the operator feeds or deposits
banknotes including various denominations of money into the counterfeit
money discrimination support device 10 via the banknote taking-in port
12. At this time, with the detection sensor provided in the vicinity of
the banknote taking-in port 12, the denominations of banknotes taken into
the device are detected, and the so-detected information related to the
denominations is then sent to the denomination judging section 22.

[0039]Upon feeding or depositing the banknotes into the device 10, as
shown in STEP 3, whether or not the denominations of the banknotes taken
into the device 10 via the banknote taking-in port 12 are identical to
the predetermined denomination of money set in advance by the
denomination setting section 21 is judged, for each banknote, by the
denomination judging section 22. Specifically, if the denominations and
quantity of the banknotes taken into the device 10 via the banknote
taking-in port 12 are one 100-dollar banknote and two 20-dollar
banknotes, the denomination judging section 22 will judge that the one
100-dollar banknote corresponds to the predetermined denomination of
money, while each of the two 20-dollar banknotes does not correspond to
the predetermined denomination of money.

[0040]When the denomination judging section 22 judges that the banknotes
taken into the device 10 via the banknote taking-in port 12 include ones
having the denomination identical to the predetermined denomination of
money, and more specifically, when the denomination judging section 22
judges that 100-dollar banknote is taken into the device 10 via the
banknote taking-in port 12, the alerting buzzer 25 generates the alerting
sound so as to notify the operator that there is a need for performing,
by hand, the discriminating operation for the banknotes.

[0041]Subsequently, as shown in STEP 4, the banknotes judged to be of the
denomination identical to the predetermined denomination of money, by the
denomination judging section 22, are ejected to the exterior, as the
specific money, via the banknote ejecting port 14. On the other hand, the
banknotes judged to be of the denominations other than the predetermined
denomination of money are classified into each denomination and then
stored in the banknote storing box 13. Specifically, the 100-dollar
banknote is ejected to the exterior as the specific money because it
corresponds to the predetermined denomination of money, while the two
20-dollar banknotes are stored in a space (not shown) corresponding to
the 20-dollar banknotes in the banknote storing box 13 because they do
not correspond to the predetermined denomination of money, respectively.

[0042]Upon the ejecting operation of such specific banknotes, as shown in
STEP 5, with the detection sensor provided in the vicinity of the
banknote ejecting port 14, the denomination of the specific banknotes
ejected to the exterior via the banknote ejecting port 14 is detected for
each banknote, and the information related to the so-detected
denomination of money and the quantity of the specific banknotes
corresponding to the detected denomination is then transmitted to the
memory 23 of the control unit 20. In this way, the memory 23 stores or
memorizes the so-transmitted denomination and quantity of the specific
banknotes. More specifically, the memory 23 memorizes that the one
100-dollar banknote corresponds to the specific banknote.

[0043]Next, as shown in STEP 6, the operator discriminates whether or not
the specific banknote is counterfeit banknote, by hand, i.e., by
observing and/or directly touching the specific banknote ejected from the
banknote ejecting port 14. Generally, in regard to comparison between the
quality of paper of the specific banknote ejected from the banknote
ejecting port 14 and that of genuine ones, judgment by means of tactile
sense of a human is often superior to judgment by means of a machine. If
the specific banknote is proved to be a counterfeit one, the operator
will perform a predetermined procedure, such as notifying the police, in
response to the extraordinary case. If the specific banknote is judged
not to include a counterfeit one, as shown in STEP 7, the operator
deposits the specific money, after it is subjected to the discriminating
operation again, into the counterfeit money discrimination support device
10 via the banknote taking-in port 12. More specifically, the operator
performs the discriminating operation for checking whether or not the one
100-dollar banknote ejected from the banknote ejecting port 14 is a
counterfeit banknote, as described above, and if judging it not to be a
counterfeit one, the operator deposits the one 100-dollar banknote again
into the counterfeit money discrimination support device 10 via the
banknote taking-in port 12.

[0044]At that time, as shown in STEP 8, the denomination of the specific
banknote taken into the device 10 via the banknote taking-in port 12 is
detected by the detection sensor provided in the vicinity of the banknote
taking-in port 12, and the information related to the so-detected
denomination of money and the quantity of the specific banknote
corresponding to the detected denomination (for example, the information
that the specific banknote taken again into the device is one 100-dollar
banknote) is then transmitted to the control unit 20. Finally, when the
denomination and quantity of the specific banknote taken again into the
device 10 correspond to the denomination and quantity both memorized in
the memory 23, respectively, the control unit 20 judges that the
discriminating operation of the counterfeit banknote was properly
completed.

[0045]The specific banknote taken into the counterfeit money
discrimination support device 10 via the banknote taking-in port 12 is
then stored in the storing space corresponding to the denomination of the
specific banknote in the banknote storing box 13, i.e., the storing space
for 100-dollar banknotes.

[0046]Finally, as shown in STEP 9, when the control unit 20 judges that
the discriminating operation for the counterfeit banknotes was properly
completed, the end of discriminating operation annunciating buzzer 27
generates the annunciating sound. Thus, the operator can securely
recognize that the discriminating operation for the counterfeit banknotes
was properly completed. At the same time, the information that the
aforementioned discriminating operation for the counterfeit banknotes was
properly completed is transmitted to the POS system 30 via the
transmitter 24. As a result, a desired information management can be
carried out in the POS system 30.

[0047]Additionally, the information related to the denominations and
quantities of all banknotes initially taken into the device 10, from the
exterior, via the banknote taking-in port 12 is transmitted to the POS
system 30 via the transmitter 24. Thus, this information (e.g., the
information that the banknotes taken into the device 10 comprise one
100-dollar banknote and two 20-dollar banknotes) can also be managed in
the POS system 30.

[0048]In this manner, a series of steps of the discriminating operation
for the counterfeit banknotes are completed.

[0049]As described above, according to the counterfeit money
discrimination support device 10 of this embodiment, only the banknotes
judged to be of the denomination identical to the predetermined
denomination of money set in advance, among those taken into the device
10 from the exterior, are ejected to the exterior as the specific
banknotes, and simultaneously, the information related to the
denomination and quantity of the specific banknotes to be ejected to the
exterior is stored in the memory 23. Thereafter, the specific banknotes
judged not to be counterfeit ones, by hand, among the specific banknotes
ejected to the exterior, are taken again into the device 10. As a result,
when the denomination and quantity of the specific banknotes taken again
into the device 10 respectively correspond to the denomination and
quantity stored in the memory 23, the discriminating operation for the
counterfeit banknotes is judged to have been properly completed. With
such a counterfeit money discrimination support device 10, since the
banknotes of a specific denomination, such as large banknotes, can be
automatically selected and only the so-selected banknotes can be
discriminated by hand, the labor of the operator can be saved and the
time required for the series of steps for the discriminating operation
can be reduced, significantly, as compared with the case in which the
operator must perform the discriminating operation, for all of the
banknotes, for checking whether or not the banknotes are counterfeit
ones. Additionally, the counterfeit money discrimination support device
10 can securely reduce the cost to be required for the entire device 10,
as compared with the case of employing an automatic discriminating
device, which is adapted to automatically discriminate whether the
banknotes are counterfeit ones or not. Furthermore, with the counterfeit
money discrimination support device 10, the operator can recognize, due
to a tactile sense, such as hand feeling, whether or not the banknotes to
be checked are the counterfeit ones, by directly touching the banknotes.

[0050]The counterfeit money discrimination support device according to
this embodiment is not limited to the aspect as described above, and
various modifications can be made thereto.

[0051]For example, in the counterfeit money discrimination support device
10 shown in FIG. 1, the banknotes to be discriminated are not limited to
the dollar banknotes, but the euro banknotes, yen banknotes or any other
banknotes of the other countries may be used as those to be
discriminated. Specifically, the possibility of including counterfeit
banknotes is also relatively high in the euro banknotes as is similar to
the dollar banknotes. In particular, the 50-euro banknotes and/or
100-euro banknotes have been frequently counterfeited. As such, a desired
discriminating operation can also be provided for checking the
counterfeit euro banknotes, by setting such denominations as the
predetermined denominations of money.

[0052]The money to be discriminated is not limited to the banknotes to be
handled by the banknote handling part 11, it may be, for example, coins
to be handled by the coin handling part 15. In such a case, the interface
29 of the control unit 20 is also connected with the coin taking-in port
16, coin storing box 17 and coin ejecting port 18, of the coin handling
part 15. Consequently, only the coins judged to be of the denomination
identical to the predetermined denomination of money, among the coins
taken into the device from the exterior via the coin taking-in port 16,
are ejected to the exterior as the specific coins. At this time, the
information related to the denomination and quantity of the specific
coins ejected to the exterior is stored in the memory 23. Thereafter, the
specific coins judged not to be counterfeit ones, by hand, among the
specific coins ejected to the exterior, are taken again into the device
10. As a result, when the denomination and quantity of the specific coins
taken again into the device respectively correspond to the denomination
and quantity stored in the memory 23, the discriminating operation for
the counterfeit coins is judged to have been properly completed.

[0053]In addition, the alerting unit for notifying the operator that there
is a need for performing the discrimination operation, by hand, for the
banknotes, when the denomination judging section 22 judges that the
banknotes taken into the device 10 via the banknote taking-in port 12
include some banknotes of the denomination identical to the predetermined
denomination of money, is not limited to the aforementioned alerting
buzzer 25 adapted to generate an alerting sound for appealing to the ear
of the operator. Alternatively, the alerting unit may be ones for
appealing to the eyes of the operator, such as by displaying by means of
a touch panel or the like. Also, the alerting unit may be configured to
send the information for notifying that there is a need for performing
the discriminating operation for the banknotes, by hand, to the POS
system 30.

[0054]Similarly, the alarming unit for providing an alarm to the operator
when some failure occurs in the counterfeit money discrimination support
device 10 is not limited to the buzzer 26 for failure, which is designed
to appeal the ear of the operator by generating an alarming sound.
Instead, the alarming unit may be ones for appealing to the eyes of the
operator, such as by displaying by means of a touch panel or the like. In
this case, it is preferred that the configurations of the alerting unit
and alarming unit are completely different from each other, such that the
alerting unit employs one for appealing to the ear of the operator while
the alarming unit employs one for appealing to the eyes of the operator,
or vice versa.

[0055]Again, the end of discriminating operation annunciating unit for
informing the operator that the discriminating operation for the
counterfeit banknotes was properly completed is not limited to the end of
discriminating operation annunciating buzzer 27 designed to appeal the
ear of the operator by generating an annunciating sound. Namely, as
previously described, the end of discriminating operation annunciating
unit may also be the ones for appealing to the eyes, such as a
touch-panel display.